THERE WON’T BE A DOWNTOWN HOTEL ON THE CITY-OWNED OLD GREY’S HOSIERY MILL PROPERTY AFTER ALL

THE PLAN AGREED TO BY THE CITY AND THE CITY’S CHOSEN DEVELOPER IN APRIL OF 2017 IS NOT "FINANCIALLY VIABLE"

Well, another chapter bites the dust in the 30 year old on-going evolution of the City of Hendersonville’s ownership of the old Grey’s Hosiery Mills building and property on Grove Street…

The old mill WON’T be becoming a boutique style 57-room downtown hotel, as previously advertised. The old mill, officials say, will become apartments instead, according to a NEW plan. The concept of a downtown hotel on the site, which the city and Carboro developer Belmont Sayre LLC had committed to a year ago, they now say is not "financially viable".

Hendersonville City Council decided Thursday night to move forward with the new plan to renovate the 1915 old mill into 35 workforce housing apartment units, while still preserving the historic structure itself.

In April 2017, the council picked the Carrboro-based Belmont Sayre’s plan from among three other proposals for the site. The plan was to renovate the mill into a 57-room, one-story hotel with a 2,000-square-foot event space for up to 70 people.

The council unanimously agreed in December to sell the mill property to developer Belmont Sayre LLC for $1 million.

But the cost to renovate and operate 57-room boutique hotel would not be financially viable, City Manager John Connet said Thursday night. Banks aren’t interested in loaning money for the project, Connet said, based on the number of rooms.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” said Connet. “I think the city continues to believe in the need for a hotel in downtown Hendersonville…This seems to be the most reasonable option.”

Ken Reiter, president of Belmont Sayre, unveiled the modified plan to the council during its Thursday evening meeting. The proposal now is to fill the mill with 35 apartments, providing more housing options for those who wish to live downtown.

That downtown hotel plan, that now is not going to happen, is the latest in a decades-long series of failed plans for the old mill property….plans that once were for a performing arts center that raised millions of dollars and then, like other lofty dreams for the property, went nowhere.